Centerlines Update: Sacramento, DFW's Campbell Win Concessions Contest

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Sacramento, DFW's Campbell Win Concessions Contest

ACI-NA Releases Airport Concessions Benchmarking Survey Results

ACI-NA on Monday presented survey findings of their Airport Concessions Benchmarking Survey at the 2012 ACI-NA Airport Concession Conference in Denver. The data from the survey includes concession revenue from 98 airports, representing 81 percent of passenger traffic in the United States and 66 percent of traffic in Canada.

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ACI-NA Plays Significant Role in "Sandy" Preparations

Superstorm Sandy and the nor’easter that followed it caused significant impacts to the U.S. -- air transportation was no exception. On Oct. 28 and 29, as Sandy approached and made landfall, the airlines canceled almost all commercial flights to and from airports in the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., causing ripple effects throughout the U.S. and Canada and around the globe. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, over 12,000 flights were canceled worldwide during this period; United Airlines alone has reported that the Sandy cost it almost $90 million.

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Help Plan Future Best Practice Forum Webinars

Hoping to continue with the success of its Airport Best Practice Forum webinar series, Strategic Planning and Performance Management Working Group of the ACI-NA Finance Committee is now seeking topics for future webinars. An on-line suggestion box is open until Friday.

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TRB Tackles Wayfinding, Planning in Free Webinar

The Transportation Research Board will host a free webinar on Dec. 6 to review three recent Airport Cooperative Research Program reports on wayfinding and airport roadways. While the 90-minute event is free, advance registration is required. The webinar will begin a 2 p.m. EST.

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Events On Approach

International Aviation Issues: Chamber’s Martin Regalia to Speak
Dr. Martin Regalia, senior vice president and chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will provide a macro-economic overview at this year’s 2012 International Aviation Issues Seminar which will be held Dec. 6-7 in Washington. In conjunction with the chamber members, he is responsible for developing chamber policy on tax and economic issues. Regalia appears on national news and debate programs, testifies before congressional committees and authors articles on economic topics. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn about economic trends and outlook which will be which will have an impact on aviation. An updated agenda has been posted.

Nov. 21 is the last day to receive the early bird rate and the special group rate of $249 at the Mayflower Renaissance Washington Hotel. Call the hotel directly at 202-347-3000 or toll free at 1-800-228-7697.

New Details Added to the Agenda for Customer Service Seminar
Designed to examine the latest trends and best practices in airport customer service, the ACI-NA Customer Service Seminar slated for Jan. 22-24, just outside of Jacksonville, promises to offer airport customer service professionals the tips, tools and interactive opportunities they need to maximize their airports' effectiveness in delivering a first-class customer experience. Take a look at the agenda for further session details.

Dec. 31 is the last day to receive the early bird rate and special group rate of $185 at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island Hotel. Call the hotel directly at 904-277-1100 or toll-free at 1-800-241-3333.

Save the Date: Airports Canada Conference & Exhibition
The Airports Canada Conference & Exhibition will be held April 10-12 in Montréal to bring together more than 230 of the aviation sector’s most influential experts and airport chiefs to discuss and debate the critical issues and opportunities facing Canada’s airport community in the global context in the months and years to come.

March 17 is the last day to receive the special group rate of $185 at the Hilton Montréal Bonaventure. Call the hotel directly at 514-878-2332

See upcoming ACI-NA Events

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Committee Update

WBP/Associates Board

The ACI-NA World Business Partners/Associates Board elected four new individuals to seats that will be vacant at the end of 2012. The newly-elected WBP/Associates Board members are: Lorena De Rodriguez, president, SSi; Michael J. DeVoy, vice president-director of aviation, R.W. Armstrong; David A. Kipp, senior vice president, Ross & Baruzzini; Arnold Rosenberg, senior vice president, Parsons Brinckerhoff. The new board members will serve a three-year term beginning on Jan. 1.

In addition to the new board members, a new Chair and Vice Chair were elected. The newly-elected WBP/Associates Board Chair will be Kevin Dolliole, senior vice president, Unison Consulting. Serving as Vice Chair will be David Bannard, partner, Foley & Lardner. The Chair and Vice Chair will serve a one-year term also beginning Jan. 1.

Contact ACI-NA’s Casey Lamar for more information.

Learn more about ACI-NA Committees and Programs

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People on the Move

ACI-NA Adds Three New Employees
ACI-NA has hired three new employees this month – two in our Washington office and one for the Canadian office in Ottawa.

Matt Cornelius joined ACI-NA as the Senior Director of Air Policy, a new position with the organization. In this role, Matt monitors and advises on U.S., Canadian and international aviation regulations and issues including topics such as air service development, airport/airline agreements, and rates and charges policies, among others. Matt also serves as the secretary to the Large Hub/Gateway Airport Committee and the Air Service and Data Planning Work Group.

Matt comes to ACI-NA with 12 years’ experience in the commercial aviation industry. Most recently, he served as the Airline Affairs Manager with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Prior experience includes stints at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Denver International Airport and Frontier Airlines.

Matt earned a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of Colorado at Boulder and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Villanova University.

Loey Bleich joined the ACI-NA team as the Conferences and Education Assistant; in this role she assists the Conference department with all aspects of meeting preparation and marketing support.

Loey graduated from University of Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Studio Art.

Elias Rassi has joined the Ottawa office as Communications and Public Affairs Manager.

He most recently was a communications analyst with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. Elias is a 2007 graduate of Carleton University and completed post-graduate studies at Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning.

Mark B. Laroche
The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport Authority recently appointed Mark B. Laroche as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. Laroche will formally assume his new role on March 1, following the retirement of Paul Benoit. Laroche had been the CEO of Canada Lands Company.

Larry Berg
Larry Berg, CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, has announced that he will retire early next year after 15 years directing the airport and its subsidiary, Vantage Airport Group.

Milton Collins
Miami-Dade Aviation Department Associate Director of Minority Affairs Milton Collins received the Minority Enterprise Development Week Advocate of the Year Award during the 30th Annual MEDWeek awards presentation. Collins was recognized at the annual event among more than 400 attendees from across Florida for leading the efforts at Miami International Airport to support small, minority and women’s disadvantaged business enterprises.

Deborah Ostreicher
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport’s Deborah Ostreicher, deputy aviation director for public relations, is the recipient of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 ATHENA Public Sector Award, which recognize women in the public and private sectors for their professional accomplishments, strong commitment to the community and mentorship of women.

Andy Platz
The Airport Consultants Council has elected Andy Platz, of Mead & Hunt, as chair of the 2013 ACC board of directors. Platz assumed the position last week at the ACC membership meeting during the 34th ACC Annual Conference and Exposition.

Shannon Stewart
Environmental Science Associates has hired Shannon Stewart as a principal technical associate in ESA’s Energy practice. Shannon recently led the Bureau of Land Management’s Solar Energy Program in the National Renewable Energy Coordination Office.

Neil Thompson
Global restaurateur HMSHost recently hired Neil Thompson as regional vice president for Canada, responsible for leading the company’s Canadian airport and motorway business. Thompson recently was vice president, Canada for Nando’s Flame Grilled Chicken restaurant.

Frederick Roe
Safegate Airports Systems recently hired Frederick Roe as vice president of sales. He has more than 10 years of experience selling aviation business intelligence solutions.

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From the Members ...

Boingo Chosen as Wireless Provider for Love Field, Norwegian Airports
Boingo Wireless announced on Nov. 1 that it was selected by the City of Dallas to be the wireless provider for Dallas Love Field Airport. Boingo also announced on Nov. 5 a new agreement with Oslo Lufthavn Tele & Data AS to manage and operate Wi-Fi services at the three most highly-trafficked airports in Norway.

Lambert Upgrading Terminal 1 Entrances Following Tornado
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is beginning a project to overhaul two major entrances to Terminal 1. Damage from the April 22, 2011 tornado created an opportunity to redesign the terminal’s lower level entrances which will better enhance Lambert’s historic architecture.

San Antonio to Begin Renovations of Terminal A
San Antonio International Airport kicks off a 18-month renovation project on its 30-year old Terminal A facility.

Russian Carrier Aeroflot Launches Service at MIA
On October 30, Miami International Airport welcomed the inaugural flight from Moscow to Miami by Aeroflot Russian Airlines, Russia's largest passenger air carrier. The carrier will now provide three weekly non-stop flights between Moscow and Florida.

Send news to NewsEditor@aci-na.org

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aci-na.org

Blog: Brookings Study Does a Real Service
In a recent blog, ACI-NA President Greg Principato reviewed the Brookings Institute study on international air travel and our international airports. He noted “the study shines an important light on a key fact: that a very few airports support a great percentage of this country’s international traffic. Yet, we have a set of policies in this country that utterly fail to take this into account.”

In another blog, Principato observed that consumers may not have the best understanding of government policies that have a big impact on them or their communities. Earlier this year ACI-NA conducted national research that showed consumers don’t fully understand how airports are funded, but when educated, they largely support airport infrastructure investments.

New Research Posted
Guidebook for Incorporating Sustainability into Traditional Airport Projects: This Airport Cooperative Research Program report describes sustainability and its potential benefits, and identifies different applications of sustainable initiatives in traditional airport construction and everyday maintenance projects. Through case studies, the tool also allows users to obtain more information about specific strategies and learn about sustainability initiatives that have been implemented in other airports.

ACRP Impacts on Practice --October 2012: The latest issue describes how information included in ACRP Report 47: Guidebook for Developing and Leasing Airport Property was used by the Houston Airport System to complete its due diligence of identifying stakeholders and impacts in allowing Hobby Airport to offer international flights.

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Info Desk

Salt Lake City Has Best On-Time Scores, Again

For the sixth time this year, Salt Lake City International Airport had the best on-time rank for departures, according to data compiled by FlightStats. In October, Salt Lake’s flights departed on-time 89.5 percent of the time. Salt Lake ranked first in September, August, June, May and March. Salt Lake’s October score was down from the 92.7 percent it recorded in September.

For the seventh time in 2012, Salt Lake had the best on-time marks for its arriving flights. In October, it has an on-time arrival rate of 87.4 percent. It had finished first in September with a score of 91.7 percent.

For the third month in a row, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport finished second with its departure arrival rate. Its October departure rate was 87.5 percent.

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport had the second best on-time arrival rate in October with 86.4 percent. This was it best performance this year in either category.

FlightStats each month surveys the 60 largest airports in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for this exclusive ACI-NA report.

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Hot Topics Full Text

Sacramento, DFW's Campbell Win Concessions Contest

ACI-NA Board Chair Dave Edwards and ACI-NA President Greg Principato look on as Sacramento International Airport celebrates its Griesbach award. From Sacramento: Donna Scranton, G. Hardy Acree and Angela Hourigan.

ACI-NA on Tuesday recognized Sacramento International Airport as the Richard A. Griesbach Award of Excellence winner in the 2012 Airport Concessions Contest. Zenola Campbell, IAP, vice president of concessions, Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, was also recognized as ACI-NA’s Concessions “Person of the Year”.

Sacramento’s concessions program provides a mix of local, regional and national market presence, that creates a “sense of place” reflective of Sacramento’s role as a Gateway to Northern California. The Terminal B concession program incorporates local elements into the design and concession choices, as well as establishes the right mix of local, regional, and

“Now in our 15th year of holding the Richard A. Griesbach Excellence in Airport Concessions Contest, ACI-NA congratulates Sacramento as this year’s overall award of excellence winner,” said ACI-NA President Greg Principato. “These award-winning entries help promote the innovative spirit within the airport concessions industry as well as showcase the unique products and services that airports are providing throughout North America.”

Campbell is responsible for programming one of the largest airport concession programs in North America. Her coordination and leadership have taken the concession program at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport from $206 million in gross receipts in 2006, to $267 million in 2011, a 30 percent increase during a challenging business climate.

“We are proud to honor Zenola Campbell as this year’s ACI-NA Concessions ‘Person of the Year’,” said Principato. “Zenola’s tenacity and creative approach to concessions management and customer service at DFW serve as an inspiration to her colleagues.”

The awards were announced during the 2012 ACI-NA Airport Concessions Conference in Denver, at which more than 380 representatives of the North American airport concessions industry are in attendance. The purpose of the ACI-NA Excellence in Airport Concessions Contest is to inspire creativity in the industry and to recognize innovative and outstanding airport concessions. Under the continuing financial stress that airports experience, these awards help to demonstrate the importance of airport concessions

This year’s contest received a record-breaking 180 nominations from airports of all sizes throughout the U.S. and Canada. In addition to the Greisbach award, 38 other awards were presented.

View the press release listing all the winners.

View a special edition of Centerlines with complete photo coverage of Tuesday’s awards ceremony and details and illustrations on each winning entry.

View the Facebook album of Tuesday’s event.

ACI-NA Board Chair Dave Edwards and ACI-NA President Greg Principato present DFW's Zenola Campbell the Concession Person of the Year award.

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ACI-NA Releases Airport Concessions Benchmarking Survey Results

“Airports recognize the importance of customer-centric concessions programs,” said Greg Principato, president of ACI-NA. “Our survey data overwhelmingly show that airports understand that competition is not only important in air service but also in providing a variety of food, beverage and retail offerings for their passengers.”

Thirty-three percent of the responding airports have developed a mobile application in order to better meet the needs and expectations of air travelers. Of those airports that have a mobile application, 73 percent promote concessions offerings using mobile platforms.

From an airport revenue standpoint, ACI-NA benchmarking data shows that on average customers spent $5 on food and beverage and $3.10 on news, gift and specialty retail per enplanement in 2012.

Airport data reported to the FAA indicate that total revenue from terminal concessions (food, beverage, retail and services) was $1.51 billion in 2011, up 12 percent from 2010 ($1.35 billion). Revenue from food and beverage programs at U.S. airports represents 35 percent of the total 2011 terminal concessions revenue; retail represents about 40 percent.

“In addition to fixed retail space, airports’ carts and kiosks programs provide small businesses the opportunity to have an increasing presence in concession programs as well as enable airports to cater to ever-evolving market trends and demands,” said Principato.

32 percent of respondents have food & beverage kiosks
43 percent of respondents have news, gift and specialty retail kiosks

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ACI-NA Plays Significant Role in "Sandy" Preparations

As if to add insult to injury, a week later, a strong Atlantic storm impacted the Northeastern US, causing over 1,600 additional cancellations and significant numbers of diversions, caused in part by Sandy-related navigational aid outages at the New York area airports.

We know that airports worked very hard prior to both storms to ensure facilities were ready and operations were wound down safely and efficiently. As the storms passed, these same airports were hard at work getting their airports back into operation. Following Sandy, most U.S. airports were back in operation by mid-day Tuesday, Oct. 30. JFK and Newark reopened on Wednesday morning, Nov. 1, and, despite extensive saltwater flooding, LaGuardia reopened on Thursday, Nov. 2.

The rapid resumption of air traffic following Sandy's passage was due in no small part to extensive coordination among the FAA, airports, and airlines in the days leading up to and immediately following the storm. In addition to local coordination, airports in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic were invited to participate in a series of twice-daily national planning calls with the FAA where all affected parties could discuss urgent needs, facility conditions, and operating status. These calls helped to ensure that airlines--particularly foreign flag carriers--got up to the minute information regarding whether airports were ready to accommodate them.

ACI-NA played a significant role in organizing airport participation in these coordination calls and providing post-call updates to ACI-NA members starting on Thursday before the storm hit and continuing through Tuesday night following the storm’s landfall. Our efforts to keep airports informed on a real-time basis is an outgrowth of a year’s worth of coordination with the FAA, A4A, IATA and AAAE to improve airport, airline and FAA communications during irregular operations events. ACI-NA and member airports in the Northeast repeated this exercise during the nor’easter, albeit on a smaller scale.

We have been encouraged by the success of these efforts and appreciate the FAA’s efforts to get airports more involved in irregular operations planning, response, and recovery. Next week, we will be sitting down with the FAA, AAAE, and our airline partners to review what worked and what we can do better in the future. Please let us know if you have suggestions.

Contact ACI-NA’s Chris Oswald for more information.

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Help Plan Future Best Practice Forum Webinars

A total of eight webinars have been conducted in 2011 and 2012. The following topics have been covered: Strategic Planning, Strategic Development, Strategic Deployment, Benchmarking Survey, Airport Productivity Initiatives, Revenue Enhancement Strategies, Enterprise Risk Management, and Capital Program Management.

There will be two upcoming webinars covering the topics of “total ownership cost” and “sustainability”, the schedule of which are yet to be determined. The webinar on Sustainability will be a joint one with the Environmental Affairs Committee.

Contact ACI-NA’s Liying Gu for more information.

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TRB Tackles Wayfinding, Planning in Free Webinar

Planners and designers for all sizes of airports may struggle with designing passenger terminals that provide good value and level-of-service efficiency that meet the criteria of many aspects of airport terminals. The presentations in this webinar will highlight ACRP reports that address these issues.

ACRP Report 25: Airport Passenger Terminal Planning and Design: Bruce Anderson, Landrum & Brown, will explore best practices that were identified in the passenger terminal planning process. He will outline important criteria and requirements needed to address emerging trends and create solutions for airport passenger terminals.

ACRP Report 52: Wayfinding and Signing Guidelines for Airport Terminals and Landside. Jim Harding, Gresham, Smith and Partners, will present findings on how airport operators can review, update, enhance, or develop their airport wayfinding and signing plans. At ACI-NA’s upcoming Customer Service Seminar on Jan. 22-24 there will also be a session on improve airport wayfinding.

ACRP Report 40: Airport Curbside and Terminal Area Roadway Operations: Peter Mandle, LeighFishe, will discuss how airport operators and others can analyze their airport terminal area roadway and curbside operations. He will outline guidelines for estimating airport roadway requirements and capacities, recommended performance measures, valid and useful analytical methods, and potential measures to improve terminal area and curbside roadway operations.

The FAA’s Danielle Rinsler will moderate the webinar.

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